but not to worry as our event surely approaches and my intentions of going this year get sparked and ignited and the proverbial fire under my ass gets lit..i am going this year and you can count on it.

see you in the dust friends

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

Cats also figured in the cycle of Saint John the Baptist, which took place on June 24, at the time of summer solstice. Crowds made bonfires, jumped over them, danced around them, and threw into them objects with magical power, hoping to avoid disaster and obtain good fortune during the rest of the year. A favorite object was cats - cats tied up in bags, cats suspended from ropes, or cats burned at stake. Parisians liked to incinerate cats by the sackful, while the Courimauds (or "cour à miaud" or cat chasers) of Saint Chamond preferred to chase a flaming cat through the streets. In parts of Burgundy and Lorraine they danced around a kind of burning May pole with a cat tied to it. In the Metz region they burned a dozen cats at a time in a basket on top of a bonfire. The ceremony took place with great pomp in Metz itself, until it was abolished in 1765. ... Although the practice varied from place to place, the ingredients were everywhere the same: a "feu de joie" (bonfire), cats, and an aura of hilarious witch-hunting. Wherever the scent of burning felines could be found, a smile was sure to follow.

Ugly Dougly wrote:Cats also figured in the cycle of Saint John the Baptist, which took place on June 24, at the time of summer solstice. Crowds made bonfires, jumped over them, danced around them, and threw into them objects with magical power, hoping to avoid disaster and obtain good fortune during the rest of the year. A favorite object was cats - cats tied up in bags, cats suspended from ropes, or cats burned at stake. Parisians liked to incinerate cats by the sackful, while the Courimauds (or "cour à miaud" or cat chasers) of Saint Chamond preferred to chase a flaming cat through the streets. In parts of Burgundy and Lorraine they danced around a kind of burning May pole with a cat tied to it. In the Metz region they burned a dozen cats at a time in a basket on top of a bonfire. The ceremony took place with great pomp in Metz itself, until it was abolished in 1765. ... Although the practice varied from place to place, the ingredients were everywhere the same: a "feu de joie" (bonfire), cats, and an aura of hilarious witch-hunting. Wherever the scent of burning felines could be found, a smile was sure to follow.

But how does one ever get accustomed to no longer having/living that...

Clients who were posted to South Africa, were once invited to visit a farm in Zimbabwe. As many such places in the heat, doors & windows were open. With their family sitting in the main ground-floor room with their hosts, suddenly the host said something to the effect of 'every body sit still, don't do anything, everything's fine'. Then a male lion walked in. With the hosts at ease, the lion quietly toured the room, snuffed at some, then went upstairs to where the hosts' infant was sleeping. Very shortly the lion came back down and quietly left. Then the host explained. He's the alpha male. He views the whole area as his. He saw strangers arrive, so he had to come see you and make sure the baby is o.k..

Odd. No bears to watch in the dump. Oh well, lets go across the road & pick blueberries..... but don't harm the red dragon that frequents the area from time to time. He and I have an agreement.

Canoe wrote:But how does one ever get accustomed to no longer having/living that...

Clients who were posted to South Africa, were once invited to visit a farm in Zimbabwe. As many such places in the heat, doors & windows were open. With their family sitting in the main ground-floor room with their hosts, suddenly the host said something to the effect of 'every body sit still, don't do anything, everything's fine'. Then a male lion walked in. With the hosts at ease, the lion quietly toured the room, snuffed at some, then went upstairs to where the hosts' infant was sleeping. Very shortly the lion came back down and quietly left. Then the host explained. He's the alpha male. He views the whole area as his. He saw strangers arrive, so he had to come see you and make sure the baby is o.k..

Yikes... Guess that works until a guest sneezes or something

"just two indecisive cowboys, trying to play a word game." - piehole"Just apply intelligence and discretion and you should be able to get away with just about anything." - Ugly Dougly